"It's going to be one of the greatest Tours ever" - Tadej Pogacar excited for Tour de France showdown with Vingegaard, Roglic & Evenepoel among others

The 2024 Tour de France is here and it is easily one of the most hotly anticipated editions on the Grand Tour in a very long time. Ahead of the race, UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar starts as favourite as he looks to reclaim the Maillot Jaune after two successive years as runner-up.

"The shape is good. Everything went smoothly, more or less, in preparation. So yeah, I'm happy where I am," the UAE Team Emirates leader reveals in conversation with Wielerflits as he gets his pre-Tour de France haircut. "This year, I can really feel the energy around me for this Tour is much more positive and I feel really, really good!"

Whilst this time around it is Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard who has had to battle injury in order to make the Grand Depart, twelve months ago it was Pogacar himself who was in a similar position. "Last year, a lot of people were doubting if I could recover and be in good shape for the Tour," he recalls. "For sure, this was also a factor for why there was a bit of negativity. But also, I didn't believe in myself enough. Last year there was a really short period of time where I needed to gain back what I lost and it was a really tough training period, maybe I over-trained. You aren't happy when you're at the limit all the time."

This year, there is also the added wrinkle that it's not just a head to head battle between Pogacar and Vingegaard for the Maillot Jaune. For the first time ever, all of cycling's so called 'Big 4' (Pogacar, Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel ed.) will be present at the start line of a Grand Tour.

"I think in a few years, we will look back to this start line and whatever happens in this Tour, it's going to be one of the greatest Tours ever," Pogacar previews, doing nothing to dampen the expectations of fans. "Maybe we say this every year, but with this lineup, if everything goes well and everybody is ready, it's going to be a great battle and an amazing Tour de France."